Reflections

REFLECTIONS

"Leaving Oklahoma Christian University, and I have honestly never wanted to stay somewhere this bad. I had the best experience of my life, and it really feels like home. I'm gonna miss everyone so much♥" Geneva, FL - Sophomore

"Thank you so much for a wonderful week at OC! It was so much fun and exceeded my high expectations!" Ardmore, OK - Junior

"I wasn't sure about OC, but ... God let me know I was where I should be." St. Augustine, FL - Senior

"I knew that Honors Summer Academy was going to be a great experience for our son, but I was overjoyed at his account afterward. When we picked him up Saturday, he could not stop going on and on about what a great time he had. The quote of the day from Saturday, "IF THIS IS WHAT COLLEGE IS LIKE, I CAN'T WAIT!"Today, he told us that Len Feurhelm helped show him God's presence in science -- his faith was further shaped in conjunction with academics - my son was the recipient of faith-based college education, and he is only entering his sophomore high school year. Also, he really liked the field trip the class took -- something about Darwin's original notes and original designs of the Eiffel Tower. I gathered from his comments about Darwin that this was also a faith-building experience, as opposed to what you might normally hear on the subject. In Pat Smith's class, he honed his team work and critical thinking skills while working through a programming issue with a partner. He and his partner cheered when they figured it out the program sequencing, and Pat Smith said, "that's what Engineers do". Of course, the social aspects were wonderful as well - he made new friends that he is looking forward to seeing next summer, hopefully.A bonus that I hadn't counted on was the improved "student skills" that will benefit him during his continued High School years. He was proud of himself for not procrastinating his research paper, and bragged that since he finished in plenty of time, he got to have free time most of Friday.Words cannot express my full appreciation to all of you for your time and efforts in planning an executing an enriching experience. Thanks, too, to all of the wonderful counselors. Thank you for taking great care of our son, helping to deepen his faith, opening his eyes a bit to the world around him now and the possibilities to come." Edmond, OK-Sophomore parent

"THANK YOU!!! My son had such a great time!!! He is excited about next year!! You have no idea what this week has meant to us as parents and for him as a student. He needed to know others believed in him and valued what he had to offer. Every one of his mentors/professors/RA's/peers etc. did just that. This past week enabled him to make huge strides in that area!! New friends, new passions, new connections & new purpose. That's what OC's HSA did for my son. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart." Edmond, OK Sophomore parent

"I learned so much about living in a college lifestyle and managing time! The Summer Honors Academy really increased my knowledge of the History of the BIble and my appreciation for engineering. Thank you so much for everything!" Edmond, OK - Junior

“My son was only home about a week and he was missing the in depth conversations he could have with the other kids. To be with a group of kids who were interested in learning and thinking on their own was an exhilarating experience for him." He interacted with the other kids as a group and individually and saw "what learning could be when he was challenged and required to think and come to his own conclusions, not just learn the required answers from a book....expectations were exceeded 100 times over. “ Atoka, OK Sophomore parent

“I went on several trips this summer. One was a 3-week paleontology expedition that took me, along with 12 other Oklahoma high school students, to world famous fossil sites as far away as South Dakota. I got to learn from about a dozen professional paleontologists, biologists, geologists, etc., and do hands-on work usually reserved for graduate students or professionals. I had a wonderful time and became good friends with several fellow explorers, but something was missing. There was no religious aspect to the program. I had plenty in common with the others- interest in science, appreciation for the outdoors, enthusiasm for learning. But without God, the experience was not completely satisfying.

When I came to OC at the end of the summer, I didn't expect it to be very different (other than the academic focus.) Sure, we would probably go to chapel and maybe talk about Jesus. The kids would probably be about the same as any teenager these days. Honestly, I didn't really look forward to SHA. I thought it would be like a summer school, all work and no fun. How happily mistaken I was! I found myself among young people who had truly dedicated their lives to God. I actually enjoyed my classes! In fact, I loved them and I didn't want them to end. The faith, joy, and love present at Oklahoma Christian inestimably improved my experience. It was really "all that and a bag of chips!"

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend the Summer Honors Academy. It exceeded my expectations in every aspect. Never before have I met a group of such intelligent, friendly, faithful, and fun kids. Never before have I had such interesting, dedicated, and caring professors. Never before have I gotten to sing so much in church! Never before have I made so many friends so quickly. By the end of the week I was wondering, where have these people been all my life? :) - Tulsa, OK - Senior

“The oil lamps you bought us were really neat, too. I told my mom about the museum trip and she thought that it was super cool how we got to handle the artifacts (from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome) that she had only seen from behind glass. Anyway, thanks for everything! And thank you for being overall awesome. Last week was one of the best weeks of my life!” - Edmond, OK - Sophomore

“Thank you so much for this last week of Honors Academy. I had a great time learning from my professors and all of the chapel speakers. I loved all the opportunities I had to spend time with like-minded peers and grow long-lasting relationships. Thank you especially for all you did to make my stay comfortable and entertaining. The RA’s were also very helpful and fun. I loved OC and hopefully will be able to visit again. I will always remember the week.” - Florida- Junior

“Thank you for hosting me on campus during HSA! It was truly one of the best weeks of my life. Thank you for your words of encouragement during HSA and in the letter you sent me. You are a wonderful example of Christ to everyone around you and I pray that God will continue to work through you.” Arkansas-Senior

Parent Comments

“I wanted to thank you so very much for hosting the Summer Honors Academy. You and your team did an amazing job with the kids. I want you to know that my daughter had a wonderful time and is already planning to return to the Honors Academy next summer. She passed her driver’s license test a couple of weeks ago, and she carries her car keys around on the OC lanyard that you gave to her! She is so proud to have accomplished that week, and was excited to tell friends and family all about it. She had an unforgettable experience with you and all of the other kids.” California-Parent of Junior

“Thanks for all the work that you put in this year-he absolutely loved it. It was a great experience, and it’s really nice to know that there is so much talent so close by. I also wanted to drop you a note, because of a few things that came to mind during the closing reception for the parents. First and foremost, I would never discount the importance of teaching English Literature and Art. These days there is so much emphasis on Math and Science, that I’m afraid we don’t recognize the great contributions made by English teachers and Art teachers. A nursing friend of mine once told me Math and Science are more critical for living. I suppose that’s true, but sometimes it is literature and the arts that make living worthwhile. Into every life a little joy must fall. Anyway, thanks for the joy that you brought into the kids’ lives.” Edmond, OK- Parent of Senior

“I want to thank you for making my son’s experience at OC a memorable one. Your caring and professional response to all of my inquiries assured me that he was in good hands. Please pass on my thanks to all of the staff members involved. His initial response to my “how’d it go”, was, “it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be”. Coming from him that is a ringing endorsement. He then proceeded to tell me how much he enjoyed the engineering projects, the museum visit, working with HeLa cells, and the opportunities he got to work in the computer lab and use PYTHON. Additionally, he stated that the week convinced him that computer science will be his major. I asked him about the chapel experiences and he said he enjoyed all of the speakers and seemed to be very impressed with what each one had to say. Thank you for providing an enriching week in a Christian college setting.” California- Parent of Senior

“It has been a lot of fun to read the emails that you have sent to the parents! My heart is thanking God for all the hard work the HSA team have put into this week. I pray you will be richly blessed for all your efforts on behalf of these young people. His time at OC and his first flight by himself along with a 2 week mission trip to Central America without us are somewhat of a “right of passage” experience for him. Our prayer is that God will use these events in his life to bless others and grow him closer to being a mature man of God.” Florida- Parent of Senior

OC Faculty and Staff

“I am truly amazed by the accomplishments of the students that you bring into the Honors Program. I deeply enjoyed reading about each of your staff workers, even more than I enjoyed reading about the faculty for Summer Honors Academy. I really enjoyed the trip to OKCMOA to see Passages. Thank you for letting us visit that.” OC Faculty

“I know, email is a bit impersonal, but having just finished my first Summer Honors Academy experience, I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to work with these students. They were deeply engaged, witty, knowledgeable, and demonstrated a level of scholarship not often found in many college literature courses. I hope they enjoyed the experience as much as I did. Thanks!” OC Faculty

“Thought you might enjoy this particularly good short essay. The assignment was to write in the voice of a Jew of Jesus’ day, about how they felt about the Romans and what impact that had on the way they perceived the claims of Jesus. (this is from a student)” OC Faculty

“Dear Rabbi,

I am growing discouraged. Every day it seems like the Romans oppress us more. They conquer more land, they increase taxes, and they demand another census. I cannot take this much longer! Why has God not come down to help us? What must we do to earn his forgiveness? And who is this Jesus fellow? He harshly breaks our laws, teaches false things, and then claims to be the messiah. How can he be from God? If he was, he should have acted against the Romans by now. If he does not act soon, I will. Then maybe God will come down and establish his new kingdom; and if he does not, then we will have lost nothing by trying. If you know of others who will help liberate us from Roman control, send them to me.